Mai and Ty Lee be doing a bit of scouting in this chapter and we finally get the appearance of a character that I do not like very much into this story. Along with uncovering some not so nice truths about the movements against Zuko.
And don't worry to those who have been wondering where Azula, we'll be seeing her again in the next chapter with Kazumi.
:)
With that said, let's get this chapter started!
Mai's had never considered herself somebody who was good at handling the darker side of political machinations or in other words, the dirty work that comes with politics. Sure, there was a lot of cloak and dagger involved when it comes to the nobility of the Fire Nation but that job was usually relegated to the mercenaries that most noble families could afford to hire to be their muscle or thieves that were retained for more subtle things like information gathering. She knew that her own father had a few personal agents of his that he used to keep tabs on his political opponents.
Ironically despite being very good at knife-throwing, she really didn't care that much for all the cloak and dagger business. That was work for more street level grunts and thieves to do.
Which was why Mai hated every second she had to spend standing in this dirty alley, her nose recoiling in disgust at the bad smell that she wasn't sure she wanted to know where or what it was coming from. Mai was starting to understand why a lot of nobles preferred to have their own grunts and thugs to do this kind of literal dirty work, she was by no means suited for this. She covered her nose which barely helped for the most part, as she waited impatiently for Ty Lee to finish making sure the coast was clear, as the acrobat was taking an excessively long time making sure. Mai wondered if she should have taken Suki instead.
" Alright, let's go." Ty Lee said and without waiting another minute standing in the dirty alley, the two of them exited onto the street. Mai pulling the hood of her cloak up a bit more to hide her face as she walked side by side with Ty Lee.
The next few days passed by rather quickly with the situation getting much worse in a short span of time. As predicted, riots and more protests occurring throughout the city at an alarming rate. The local guards could barely keep up with the sudden revolt of the people due to the news spread of Azula's death and the truth about what really happened during the Comet Agni Kai, but there was little they could do with how many people were angry at Zuko for a multitude of reasons. It wasn't just Caldera either, they were getting reports from other nearby cities about the people rising up against Zuko's rule, confirming Mai's fears that it wasn't just limited to the capital. Mai mentally scolded herself as she should have known that something like this was coming, information their enemies can use to poke holes into their reputation and turn the public against them.
She was fairly certain by this point that Ozai or whoever was working for him was behind it, the information about Azula's death was kept secret specifically for this reason and Mai knew that only people high up at the palace could access that kind of information. Far more people than Mai would like to think about that were still loyal to Ozai or had fallen out of loyalty to Zuko, especially after what happened with Jiang a few days ago. Mai feared that might have turned what remained of the Council's loyalty against him.
Mai had to admit that it was a pretty clever political move to make against them, using Azula's death and the truth about what really happened during the Comet Agni Kai to delegitimize Zuko's rule of the Throne and push the public to start openly rebelling against them over it. But as much as Mai hated to admit it, she knew that this wasn't caused solely because of the news of Azula's death, it went much deeper than that. Zuko's decisions and policies over handling the Fire Nation have had public opinion towards them turning sour for months now, in some ways this was inevitable to a degree. Maybe it wouldn't have happened as explosively through Azula's death, but still would have happened anyway.
Mai was already feeling the headache come on over thinking about how they were ever going to fix this going forward, provided they don't get deposed by then. She stowed that thought away for now as she focused on the mission she and Ty Lee came out here to do.
With the Kyoshi Warriors tied up at the palace making sure Zuko doesn't get assassinated or worse, it was on her and Ty Lee to gather as much information as they can about the protests and riots. They had very limited information from the reports the local guards had about the protest, besides how they got overwhelmed easily and it quickly turned into a street brawl. And with them not knowing who to trust at the moment, Mai decided they had to get this done themselves.
Nothing over the top, just simple scouting to get a better feel over the situation and how the protests are being organized. What they really needed to know was whether these protests were being led by Ozai backed supporters, because if they were than that just adds a whole new layer of problems for them to deal with.
" Come on Ty Lee, this way." Mai said as she led them down another path to cut across the street.
" Do you think we blend in well enough?" Ty Lee whispered to her as they moved, trying to keep a low profile. The last thing they needed was getting hassled by the guards and having to reveal their identity on who they are.
" Better than we would in our regular clothes at least. Let's just get this done and head back to the palace as soon as possible." Mai whispered back with a shrug. They had changed out into more simple clothes with a cloak to hide their identities, to better help blend in with the rest of the people. She had heard that a lot of nobles were keeping indoors the last few days because of the political upheaval.
Mai glanced at the state of the streets as they walked and could see the after effects of the recent protests and riots. Windows were smashed, there was splatted blood on the stone streets, soot stains that came from burn marks, abandoned improvised weapons like wooden clubs and pans, and dozens of signs that wrote plenty of unpleasant things about Zuko in general that Mai couldn't count them all. The knife-thrower let out a sigh at how badly the situation had gotten and she knew that from this point on, it was only going to get worse. She could only wonder how they were ever going to recover their reputation among the people and their trust?
She didn't know and Mai hated not knowing.
Her internal thoughts were cut off when she heard the sound of running and she turned her head just in time to see a large group of people running past them. Mai barely reacted in time to back away or else they would have collided with the other group.
" Come on, come on! We gotta move!" The leader of the group called out to the rest of them as they kept running down the street, ignoring them completely.
" Who were those people?" Ty Lee asked in surprise.
" More protestors would be my guess..." Mai answered with a shrug before she realized what that meant." And more protestors means there is a demonstration movement nearby..."
Mai and Ty Lee looked at each other for a brief moment before they started running after the protestors that had run past them. They didn't have to follow the small group for long as they heard the distinct sound of shouting and screaming reach their ears, with it getting louder they closer they got. As they turned a corner following after the protestors, the two friends could see a much larger group of protestors who were currently engaged in a screaming match with a platoon of guards. Mai instantly pulled Ty Lee back to make sure they could observe from a safe distance, but that didn't stop them from hearing all the unflattering things the crowd was saying about Zuko.
" The Loser Lord is a liar and a thief to the Throne!"
" He has no honor! He is a gutless coward who cheated in the Agni Kai!"
" Princess Azula was the pride of our nation and he destroyed that!"
" Avatar's Puppet!"
" Son of a whore!"
Mai flinched as she heard a slew of insults and curses hurled at her boyfriend, which did not give her high hopes about recovering Zuko's reputation among the people. There was just too much anger, too much discontent and hate that's spent so long simmering beneath the surface and now its finally exploded like a volcano on all of them. The knife thrower shook her head as she tried to focus on the crowd itself to gather information, Mai couldn't see any sort of leader that was organizing everything besides some of the more rowdy protestors who were pushing back against the guards and getting in their faces. The group was much too chaotic for it to be lead by a single person.
Did that mean Ozai or his supporters are just letting the public outrage at us on their own? An interesting choice considering how much of a control freak Ozai is, but if its not being controlled than there is a chance that they could still turn this around.
That's what Mai thought until she saw a flash of bright flames erupt from the front of the crowd, followed by what looked like the guards attempting to rush the protestors to push them back. The flames gave quite a few at the front bad burns and caused the group of protestors to scream in unison at the sudden show of force that was clearly meant to act as an attempt to drive them away.
" We need to help them!" Ty Lee shouted but was held back by the taller girl." Mai, what are you-"
" We can't intervene Ty Lee, we're just here to scout for information." Mai reminded her friend why they came out. While she can understand Ty Lee wanting to help the people who were injured from the flames, there was simply too much chaos and people for them both to work through to calm anything down." Plus, I don't think its the crowd you should be worried about."
Mai pointed back at the protestors who seemed to have gotten a second wind of energy fueled by anger of the guards earlier attack towards them. The crowd let out what probably was trying to sound like a war cry but just sounded like a mess of different voices shouting together as they charged the guards who had tried to scare them away. The guards quickly realizing that they were outnumbered turn tail and ran away from the angered protestors.
" Come on, let's get out of here." Mai said as she led Ty Lee away from the scene. She really should try to ask Suki later if she can get any of her Kyoshi Warriors to help with the riots, to at least make sure that they don't escalate more than they already have. But she knows that the Kyoshi Warriors are stuck at the palace making sure Zuko doesn't get assassinated, because that seemed to be a growing possibility by the day.
The two of them spent the next two hours just walking around the city, looking around the districts and areas where there was reported to be a lot of riots and protests against Zuko these past few days. Which was a lot of districts to visit, but they needed the info. Unfortunately, there wasn't a convenient or suspicious looking person around any of the districts they visited that they could have pressed for information about the protests.
Mai tried to gather what intelligence she could from the regular people, but she couldn't really gather much outside of new insults towards Zuko that she hasn't heard about yet. She let out a sigh as she came to the realization that she wasn't trained for this kind of work, much like her lack of stealth abilities, she wasn't trained for information gathering especially in a big city like this. Maybe they should have hired some mercenaries and rogues to do this for them.
" Well, this was a complete waste of time." Mai sighed as they walked through the streets.
" It wasn't so bad. We did learn a few new things about what's been happening around the city so far." Ty Lee tried to look on the bright side but Mai was failing to.
Yes, we learned a couple new insults and curses. What a productive day.
They decided to head back to the palace for the day and figure out their next move, but as they exited an alley to head back to the palace, the two of them saw a large group of people assembled on the street with them standing in front of what looks to be a wooden stage.
" What's going on over there?" Mai asked as she spotted the large group of people gathered.
" Another protest?" Ty Lee suggested.
" No guards in sight. Looks more like a demonstration or speech." Mai refuted. Though the lack of guards could also mean that they were simply busy elsewhere, Mai read in the reports that the local guard had been stretched thin these past few days." Let's get a bit closer to listen."
As they got closer, Mai could see what looked to be a middle aged man, maybe a few years younger than her own father but still old step on to the stage. He had chiseled features and there were a few white hairs on his head, indicating his age. The people gathered seem to give the man their full attention as he stood in front of them with confidence and seriousness in his body language.
" My brothers and sisters of the Fire Nation, my name is Lushan and the time has come for the Fire Nation to rise up against the royal family!"
" For over a century, the Fire Lord and the royal family have done nothing but ultimately cause pain to our nation!" Lushan shouted at the people gathered." Yes, during wartime it brought us things like the colonies and further resources. But I ask you this, how many of our people have died in an ultimately pointlessly conflict that was started for no better reason than opportunity!? How many of our brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers been thrown away like pieces on a Pai Sho board simply for more territory that we never needed to begin with!"
" The Fire Nation has always been rich in resources and we are by far the most advanced nation there is, the Hundred War was nothing more than a pointless endeavor that has been kept up by the royal family since Sozin, that cost us more than we have ever gained!" Lushan's words seemed to sway the people, as a few of them seem to be nodding in agreement. "And how did it all end my people? With a new royal brat taking the Throne because they believe themselves more deserving of it!? For our people to suffer because the new Fire Lord think its better to starve his people than tell the Earth Kingdom to fuck off!? How is he any different than his father? Nothing has changed in the Fire Nation since the war ended! It is simply a different royal brat sitting on the Throne thinking he knows better than anyone else!"
Mai couldn't help but shift uncomfortably at the harsh words, she wanted to shout some kind of refute at him, to tell all these people that Zuko was nothing like his father. But when she really thought about it, in the cold logical part of her mind there was some truth to his words. Sure, Zuko wasn't anywhere near as violently egotistical as Ozai but he hasn't really done anything to help the Fire Nation after the war. His actions and decisions so far have hurt the people more than its ever helped them. Loath as she is to admit it, Ozai and Azula were at least good enough at running the Fire Nation during their time.
" I have lived through the war my people, I have seen entire battalions of men die because of one royal decided a target was 'important enough' to sacrifice all those lives for. Just look at the 600 day Siege of Ba Sing Sae! We lost thousands of men trying to break that wall and we only failed because the pathetic General Iroh only started caring that our men were dying when it was his son who wound up dead!" Lushan spread his arms out as he encouraged the people." It is time for a new age of the Fire Nation! Enough with royals, titles and so on! What we need is a Republic chosen by the people and for the people!"
" Down with the Monarchy, brothers and sisters!" Lushan finished his speech by raising his fist in the air.
" Down with the Monarchy!" The whole crowd erupted in cheers and raised their fists in a show of support.
They're...they're actually agreeing with him?
" L-Let's get out of here Ty Lee." Mai said as she pulled her friend away and they started making their way back to the palace. A feeling of fear settling in her heart.
Somehow this trip just made her realize that they don't have just Ozai's supporters to worry about now.
" This whole situation is a complete disaster Ty Lee..." Mai let out a frustrated sigh at her friend, who just gently patted her on the back in comfort. The two of them had decided to take a break after coming back and relaxing on one of the open balconies of the palace. It gave a nice view of the city and the ability to feel the breeze on your face as you sipped tea.
Before now, they had suspected Ozai's supporters were the ones who were manipulating the protests and leading the people's anger from behind the scenes. But from the protests they visited and the riots they witnessed, there really didn't seem to be any coordination to it that indicated somebody was manipulating the public from behind the scenes. It would seem that besides spreading those news sheets, Ozai's supporters decided to let the people riot on their own terms without any further interference. Which should be good news for them as it meant that there was a chance that they could win back the people's trust without worrying about Ozai...
But therein lied the new problem that they encountered while they were out on their scouting mission: The existence of other political factions and views rising up.
The one they saw earlier was clear anti-monarchy, something that never would have been allowed to exist during Ozai's day but in the midst of all the chaos and hate towards Zuko, there appeared to be an underlying sentiment towards abolishing the existence of the monarchy entirely. Which just meant bigger problems for them because now they no longer just had one group to contend with, but other groups that aren't strictly controlled by Ozai. That wasn't even taking into account possible other factions that are organizing as they speak.
" I don't know what to do anymore Ty Lee." Mai expressed her frustrations and fears to her friend. Everything so far just felt so chaotic that it felt impossible to ever put it back in order or ever bring the situation to a more stable level.
" Hey, no matter what happens, we'll figure it out together. Alright?" Ty Lee reassured her, gently putting her hand on Mai's shoulder.
Mai wasn't sure she believed her friend that things would get better, but she appreciated the comfort." Thanks Ty Lee..."
" Mai, Ty Lee?! Are you in here?" A loud voice called out for the two of them and a second letter, the door that led back into the palace opened revealing Suki." Guys, there you are! I've been looking everywhere for you"
" Suki? What's going on?" Mai asked in surprise at her sudden appearance.
" Iroh just arrived at the palace, Zuko's going to meet him, come on!" Suki said urgently.
Mai and Ty Lee didn't waste a moment following after Suki as the three of them headed to the front of the palace in a hurry. Mai had almost forgotten that she recommended for Zuko to ask for Iroh's help and ask him to come to the Fire Nation to assist in the hunt for Ozai. Zuko had sent the messenger hawk out a while ago, and with everything that's been happening so far it had completely slipped her mind these past few days.
By the time they reach the front of the palace, Mai can see that Zuko was already there and the familiar figure of Iroh stepping out of a carriage. Without missing a beat, Iroh had a big smile on his face and had his arms spread open for a hug.
" Nephew! It has been too long." Iroh greeted Zuko kindly, and to her surprise the Fire Lord actually went for the hug first.
" U-Uncle...it is so good to see you too." Zuko said as he pulled away with a sad smile on his face." So much has happened with Piandou, and now this-"
" I know nephew, I know..." Iroh calmed Zuko down, as he turned to them." Mai, Ty Lee, Suki, it is good to see you all too."
" Iroh." Mai said simply with a nod, as Suki gave a small hi. Which contrasted to Ty Lee giving a loud 'Hi!'.
" Come now nephew, let me prepare you all some tea. I feel like we could use it while we talk about what has been going on the Fire Nation as of late." Iroh said as he put his hand on Zuko's shoulder and led them all back inside.
They all headed to the dining room to talk while Iroh prepared some of his best tea for that he brought from the Earth Kingdom. Mai took a generous sip of her tea and she had to admit that it was pretty good in terms of quality, better than any she has ever tasted before but she didn't say that out loud. Zuko gave Iroh the detailed version of everything that has happened in the Fire Nation since the last time he was in the Fire Nation, from Ozai's escape, Piandou's assassination and now with the news sheet telling people about Azula's death and what happened during the Comet Agni Kai.
"-And that's what been happening so far in the Fire Nation." Zuko finished his explanation on that note, Iroh having a thoughtful expression as he took it all in.
" So Piandou truly is gone..." Iroh had a saddened look on his face as he took a sip of his tea. The old man let out a sigh, before his expression turned to one of seriousness." This is truly troubling news. It would seem my brother is still more influential and powerful than we previously believed if he can organize an attack on one of the members of my order. It makes me worried about the others I must admit."
" You think Ozai would go after the other members of the White Lotus?" Mai asked.
" Possible, but not likely. Pakku, Jeong Jeong and Bumi are some of the best benders in the world. You would need an army of elite benders to take them down. Piandou may have simply been killed due to closeness but the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe are too troublesome to bother with." Iroh shot that idea down quickly." It makes me wonder if Piandou was killed to spite both me and Zuko."
" I wouldn't put it above Ozai." Suki said, practically spitting the former Fire Lord's name.
" And now we have fires all over the city and in others because of these Agni damned news sheets about Azula's death " Zuko said in a frustration at everything that's happened these past few days. Zuko gave Iroh a pleading look." We could really use your help here Uncle."
" Troubling news nephew, I admit I was looking forward to retirement...but no matter!" Iroh announced suddenly and with a smile." I don't mind helping my nephew deal with courtly matters. I will need some time to collect all the details, but rest assured that I am here to help."
" Thank you Uncle..." Zuko let out a sigh of relief, the first one he's had in a long while.
Mai almost dared to hope that things could get better. But some part of her already knew things were going to get a lot worse before they got to better.
Ozai let out a breath of comfort as he felt the fresh air on his skin. He always did enjoy a good time out on the sea, it was one of his few pleasures in life. The feeling of the salty sea air on your face, the cool breeze and roar of the engine as it parted the waves. He was not afforded that luxury anymore due to his responsibilities as Fire Lord, and he knows that he won't have time for such activities when he retakes the Throne, so he wants to enjoy this as much as he can before then.
Ozai turned his head slightly as he heard footsteps approach him from behind, and he could see it was one of the sailors.
" My lord, we will be arriving in the Earth Kingdom soon. We'll be making contact with the group we have stationed there when we arrive. " The sailor informed him.
" Excellent, carry on sailor." Ozai nodded as he looked on the horizon. He could see the land of the Earth Kingdom come into view as the ship increased in speed.
Ozai was going to have fun here.
You all don't know just how happy I am to finally get to this chapter and show off the anti-monarchy faction. I've said before that one of my biggest problems in canon was how nobody opposed Zuko's rise as the Fire Lord despite the fact that he was essentially a traitor to his nation and that there were no groups that opposed his rule in general. And the anti-monarchy movement is supposed to be that, a group that is not controlled by Ozai and has a strong hatred towards the royalty in general.
I also wanted to show how the people who want Zuko gone aren't really bad or just being manipulated by Ozai, they do have legitimate grievances over his rule that was shown both through the everyday protests and the anti-monarchy faction. We'll be seeing more of both in the future chapters.
Iroh finally makes his appearance in this story...like 55 chapters late. I've had a lot of trouble deciding when I wanted him to finally show up in this story and I figured now would be a good time with everything going to hell. Whether his help actually improves things or not is up in the air.
Next chapter we'll be getting back to Azula and Kazumi mother-daughter fluff stuff, so stay tuned for that!
Now let's respond to some reviews shall we?
To st4t1c sh0ck:
Glad you enjoyed Jiang tearing Zuko and Suki a new one during the meeting. That was definitely my favorite part while writing this chapter. I will be the first to admit that I didn't have any long term for Jiang when I first made him, I just wanted to give Zuko's advisors and ministers actual names instead of just making them nameless mooks within the story.
I'm definitely not a fan of how people forgave Zuko so easily, okay maybe not easily in the context of the show, but for fandom purposes Zuko is always given the benefit of the doubt compared to Azula. And yes, things are heating up in the FN.
Pun intended.
XD
To tfuinsah:
Zuko definitely needs to learn the most important lesson that comes with being leader, shutting up and listening to people who are more knowledgeable than you on a certain topic. I wasn't holding back by showing that Zuko was by no means prepared for the Throne when he took it and that shows by his lacking skill in leadership and running a country in general. And that there is a lot more to being a leader than just 'being good'.
Jiang's ploy was definitely a clever one and severely discredited Zuko. The question of whether he gets deposed or not is still up in the air, but sadly even if Zuko does get deposed and replace by someone more intelligent than him, the damage to the FN has already been done. It will take decades to put everything back into order.
To Lord 770:
Zuko has definitely lost the respect of not just his people, but the advisors and ministers. Jiang was admittedly taking a gamble on not so subtly insulting Zuko and his past with Ozai to make him lose his temper, but it worked. Zuko played right into Jiang's hand and that turned the last remaining holdouts on the Council against him and towards Jiang.
As for the White Lotus...let's just say that Ozai is going to have a tougher time there than he did with Piandou.
:P
With all that said, I will see you all in the next one.
Angel Out.